Andy Burnham warned that virtual interviews and AI screening can mask candidates' personality and passion, disadvantaging young people who may not perform well in remote, formulaic settings. His comments come as over one million 16–25-year-olds are not in education or work and recruiters increasingly use AI tools. Burnham proposed longer work placements, executive shadowing and expanded technical routes from Year 10 to help young people gain practical experience.
Burnham: Virtual Interviews and AI Screening Risk Hiding Young Candidates' Personality
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Andy Burnham has warned that employers relying heavily on online interviews and AI screening risk overlooking candidates' personality, enthusiasm and potential — qualities that can be harder to convey over Zoom or Teams.
Concerns Raised On Careers Podcast
Speaking on the careers podcast Jimmy's Jobs of the Future with former political adviser Jimmy McLoughlin, Burnham criticised the growing habit of replacing in-person interviews with virtual meetings. He asked how a young person can truly 'shine' in that setting and suggested such formats may favour rehearsed, formulaic answers over genuine passion.
'How do you get over some of your personality, your passion? It seems to me to then work against people who have that side to their character and work for those who are just giving the more formulaic answer,' Burnham said, adding that he had seen these effects in relation to his own children.
Context: Youth Unemployment, AI Use and Recruitment Trends
Burnham's comments come amid growing concern about youth employment: official figures show more than one million 16 to 25-year-olds are not in education, employment or training — the highest level in over a decade — while vacancies are at a five-year low. At the same time, LinkedIn data indicates that around 89% of UK recruiters plan to increase their use of AI in hiring this year.
Young applicants have described the modern application process to the BBC as 'robotic and brutal', reporting experiences of applying for hundreds of roles with little or no human feedback.
Recommendations And Policy Ideas
On the podcast, Burnham outlined several proposals intended to give young people more opportunities to demonstrate their skills in real workplaces, including:
- Prioritising companies that offer six-week placements when awarding certain government contracts;
- Expanding the availability of longer placements — proposing 45-day placements for 16 to 18-year-olds to gain deeper, practical experience;
- Encouraging senior executives to offer shadowing opportunities to young people who lack professional networks.
These proposals form part of a broader push to improve routes into work. Burnham also commented on recent plans to open up technical education pathways from age 14: under the proposals, pupils from Year 10 would be able to combine core academic subjects like English and maths with technical training linked to local job opportunities.
Broader Alarm About A 'Lost Generation'
A major review led by former minister Alan Milburn warned that job and career opportunities for young people are shrinking and cautioned that, without action, up to one in six young people could be out of work, education or training within five years. Milburn described the situation as a risk of a 'lost generation' facing a 'perfect storm' of economic and structural challenges.
Source: BBC reporting and LinkedIn data.
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